What are the elements you’d like to include that will make up each circle? Let your mind run free, and open yourself to many possibilities.
If you’re contemplating starting a circle, most likely you have many skills you can bring to your leadership. Don’t underestimate your potential!
You may have expertise as a yoga teacher in leading yoga poses, guided visualization, chanting, and/or meditation. You might have other relevant experience, such as training in coaching, journal writing, sacred dance, spiritual direction, art therapy, massage, mythology, storytelling, music making, gemstones, Ayurveda, the 5 elements, puja and ritual, wicca and seasonal ceremonies, non-violent communication, public speaking, transformational learning, women’s spirituality, or more!
You name it ~ each of these skills can enhance your circle, and make the experience you offer uniquely yours.
The Goddess is wide and wild, and she loves your circles to have a good dose of basic elements (like movement, sharing, and simple ritual), and always some new, playful ones!
There is no one right way to lead a circle, and there is no one standard formula for what must be included. In a future issue, I’ll tell you the elements I include in mine (and the time allotment I give to each) but for now, let’s throw the doors open wide to what YOU want to include.
Start by gathering the resources you have to bring to the circle ~ like an inventory of your assets. When I’m brainstorming, I like to gather the hands-on materials that would make a circle fun, and also consider the internal assets (such as yoga poses I know, group exercises I know how to lead) I can bring to the circle.
After gathering physical materials, take out a piece of paper and make a list of additional ideas for what you might integrate into your circle.
Here are some materials and ideas to gather:
-
Favorite poems
-
Centering meditation themes
-
Bells, candles, heart crystals, or other items to place at the center of the circle
-
Simple but unique ways to have participants greet each other in the circle
-
Simple ritual from puja, yoga, Ayurveda, lunar, seasonal, or Goddess wisdom
-
Free movement exercises
-
Sacred circle dances
-
Spiral dance
-
Yoga poses that work well in a circle
-
Yoga poses for a deeper inward journey
-
Partner poses
-
Group poses
-
Art exercises
-
Partner sharing exercises
-
Whole group sharing exercises
-
Simple stories or myths to tell
-
Guided visualizations
-
Journaling questions
-
Tarot, angel, or animal wisdom cards
-
Specific tracks of music (or instruments) for the circle
-
Simple songs that are easy to teach and learn
Believe it or not, you need a lot LESS than you may think to start your circle. Although I’ve listed 21 possible elements, you can lead an excellent circle with just 4 or 5 of the above elements! So don’t worry if you don’t have all of them. Just work with what you already know how to do, and only add 1 or 2 new elements into your circle.
Also, I have found simpler is better in a circle. What matters most is time to integrate and digest, time to share, and time to connect with each other. You don’t need long, complicated stories, visualizations, or movement; just the basics will go a long way in creating your own sacred circle.
“I decided to incorporate guided visualizations in the beginning of each circle to evoke the presence of each Goddess into the circle. I incorporated asana, pranayama, massage of oneself and each other, mantras and spontaneous movements with my guidance to a music that represented the energy of each Goddess (for example, for Kali I chose fiery music, for Ganga I included fluid watery songs). I also incorporated ceremonies with water and fire and included essential oils and flowers that I felt represented each Goddess.
“It was a very liberating process for me to let my creativity flow, and the women responded beautifully. Once I allowed myself to get out of the box of what I used to think a yoga class is supposed to look like, my creativity burst open.”
~ Yulia Azriel, Gentle Heart Yoga and Wellness, Bloomington, Indiana